The Body by Stephen King

I want to start my blog off with a really good book that I enjoyed reading and want to share with everyone. The Body is that and so much more and I am so excited to get started with this review! I love this book and think it is a wonderful read, but I might be a little biased because Stephen King has been a household name for me growing up and he’s one of my favorite authors.

Coming of age stories always make a big impact on me because they are so relatable. Every one of us can understand what it is like to be 12 years old, misunderstood and trying to find your place in the world. I think it is nice to read a story every once in a while that takes you back to when you were a young, carefree kid with no real idea of the world around you and its dangers. In this particular story, our nostalgia is brought on by the main character, Gordie, and an experience that changes his life forever -- seeing the dead body of a boy around his age with his three childhood best friends. This story is so rich because it makes you feel every emotion and discusses some super important social issues in less than 300 pages.

First of all, it is important for people reading this blog post to understand that this story is an exception to Stephen King’s reputation for being a strictly horror story writer. There are numerous times throughout this story when one feels anxious and scared for the main characters, but not in a way that you might expect from a King story. You become worried because the story and the events that take place are so accessible. The things that occur are not supernatural, but rather real life things that happen in our world everyday and have probably happened to some of the people who will read this. And that's one of the reasons why this story speaks to me so much.

Second, I think the main plot point of this story is so interesting because it only works with young, naive children. These four kids walked for more than two days in order to find the dead body. They ran out of food and water very quickly, they were cold, scared and faced some dangerous obstacles, but the excitement and nervousness of seeing the dead body allowed them to persevere. I would venture to say that most adults would not want to go on a journey to look at a dead body because they realize the scary and sad effect it would have on them. But, young kids are not going to realize this and the main characters in this book are proof of that fact. They treat the body as a sort of trophy, thinking that finding it will bring them fame and recognition within their town. However; because the story is told from a 30 year old Gordie, our main character, we discover that finding the body did not bring the four boys local fame and the image of it still haunts Gordie in his adult life. You always hear about young people feeling like they are invincible and can live through anything. While this story illustrates this idea, it also shows how it affects you later in life, which is something you obviously don’t give much thought when you’re a kid.

Now, it’s time to meet our main characters! Gordon Lachance, our main character, is a smart, young kid who has dealt with a difficult familial loss and has become a shadow in his parent's lives as a result. He is also a writer which is really neat because we actually get to read a few of Gordie's stories within this book. (I think this is a super cool added bonus to the story. Thanks Stephen!) Readers get the vibe that Gordie's family is more well-off than a lot of the people in town, Castle Rock, especially compared to Gordie’s friends. Gordie is a really sweet kid who is struggling with growing up, dealing with his familial issues and nervous about moving into a different academic track in school than his best friend, Chris Chambers.

Chris comes from a really poor, unpopular family in town. Because of this, everyone in Castle Rock lumps him together with his alcoholic father and juvenile delinquent brothers, even though he tries his best to be a better person than his family members. Similar to Gordie, Chris is really smart. I would even venture to say that he is smarter than Gordie because he knows more about the world around him and how it works than Gordie does. In the grand scheme of life, I think this is a lot more important than it is to be a straight-A student. Chris looks out for Gordie, wants him to do well and make something of himself. He even talks to Gordie at one point about not letting himself or their other friends, Vern or Teddy, drag Gordie down with them. There are a lot of really good, heartwarming scenes within this book concerning Chris and he is definitely my favorite character. Gordie is great too but there is just something about Chris -- you’ll have to find out for yourself when you read the book!

Vern and Teddy are important characters but we don’t get as much information about them as we do about Gordie and Chris. Vern is sort of the least intelligent one of the gang and is made out to be a weak link while also being kind-hearted. Teddy is similar to Chris in that he comes from a not so great family and has issues because of this. While Vern is a level headed, go with the flow type of character, Teddy is a wild card that acts a lot more tough than he actually is. The dynamic of these two characters, combined with Gordie and Chris, help create a really fun, hilarious story with dialog that is really enjoyable to read. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times while reading it.

Due to the differences in socioeconomic status between the main characters, a recurring theme of poverty versus privilege shows up a lot throughout the work. It explains how being from a small, poor town with a less than satisfactory home life puts Chris, Teddy and Vern at a disadvantage. Gordie, who was dealt a better, more privileged card in life, doesn’t really have anything to worry about in terms of his future. You will see this theme throughout the story, especially at the end, and it really makes you realize just how unfair the system is.

Another important theme shown within the story is the loss of innocence. Because this is a coming of age story, this theme is to be expected. There are a lot of examples of this theme in the story, but in order to stray away from spoilers I’m only going to lightly touch on it. The book sets the scene, explaining that the four boys have been camping in the woods halfway from the area where the body was said to be located. Gordie is the first to wake up and as he's walking around he sees a white-tailed deer. Gordie stands absolutely still, staring at the deer while the deer does the same until it hears a sound off in the distance. This is an important scene in the story because adult Gordie explains that the image of the deer is one he sees often in his adult life, similar to the image of the dead body. Because this scene with the deer occurs the same day that Gordie and the boys find the dead body, the deer symbolizes the last bit of innocence and purity Gordie has before his life changes forever.

Final, Personal Opinion of the Book:

I absolutely loved this book and I think it was incredibly well written. King really allows readers to connect and relate to the characters while including brilliant imagery for the reader’s imagination. In addition to this, there are so many fantastic quotes within the story, making it difficult for me to choose just one to share with you guys. I decided on the quote below because another important theme within this story is love and friendship. Even though things happen in our lives that make love disappear or become less strong, the love is always there like a memory and that is what this quote illustrates.

“Love isn’t soft, like those poets say. Love has teeth which bite and the wounds never close.”

Rating:

Because of all of this, I give this book a 5/5 Star rating. I hope you enjoyed my review and consider reading the novella yourself. I recommend it to all and think it is accessible for all types of readers.

P.S., The film adaption for this book, called Stand by Me (1986), is one of the highest rated films based on a Stephen King book. I highly recommend this movie because it is very similar to the novella and it is so cool to see the imagery and characters come to life right before your eyes! Just make sure to read the book first ;)